Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Joyce Carol Oates's short story, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?, was unlike anything else we've read this year. Equal parts complex, perplexing, and horrifying, the story evoked such an intense mood. There were several aspects of this story that appealed to me: the dark atmosphere, demonology, and cryptology just to name a few.

What I most appreciated about Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? was how differently it approached the coming-of-age theme. Some of the novels we're read in class, like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, feature childish characters who are placed in adult situations and emerge victorious with a new outlook on life and a valuable lesson learned; often times these are happy endings. Oates does not fall into this pattern. Things don't end well for Connie. Coming-of-age for her is about a tragic loss of innocence. She is different by the end of the story, yes, but not necessarily for the better (at least the way I interpreted the ending, anyway).

I'm going to shift in focus for a bit and talk about a few things I like: The Da Vinci Code, alternate reality games, treasure hunts. If you can draw any common themes from these, it's that I like the notion of uncovering secrets. I think that's why I responded so positively to Oates's short story. I was absolutely amazed when Professor Williams erased the "r's"in Arnold Friend's name to reveal that he was actually An old Fiend. How cool was that? Similarly, when I found out that the numbers 33 19 17 were secretly a reference to the Bible and the story's title I was completely shocked.

For some reason I've always been a fan of really dark left turns that seemingly come out of nowhere. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? is a really great example of how this concept can function in literature. I've included links below to two other types of media that I feel similarly portray this idea. One is a scene from the movie Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. If you've seen or heard the movie, I'm guessing that right now you're writing this off as a dumb excuse to put a link to a funny video in my blog, but hear me out. In my opinion, I think the movie is best when it steps outside the boundaries of your typical bro-mance and ventures into much darker comedy. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle consistently takes what the audience thinks is likely to happen to the two titular characters and does the exact opposite. The other link is the song "Window" by the agressive, alternative hip-hop, teenage rapper Tyler the Creator. On his album, Goblin, Tyler continues his exploration of darkness in the teenage psyche through several semi-fictional characters which are representative of Tyler's many alter-egos. I've included "Window" specifically because of it's "skit" outro in which Tyler ultimately "shoots" his fellow rap collective compatriots.

WARNING: BOTH OF THE VIDEOS LINKED TO BELOW ARE HIGHLY EXPLICIT AND INAPPROPRIATE. MY INTENT IS NOT TO PURPOSELY OFFEND ANYONE, BUT RATHER TO MORE FULLY ILLUSTRATE MY REACTION TO "WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"


Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

Tyler, the Creator - "Window" [Skip to 6:28 for the previously mentioned Outro]